The Pagan Activist

 Welcome to The Pagan Activist Review column.

Here I, Edain - the owner and editor of The Pagan Activist, will be reviewing new films, DVD's and any TV Series that has some mention of Paganism or Earth based beliefs in the content.

The views given here are my own personal views and therefore should be taken as such.

The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (2007)

Outlander (2007)

Beowulf (2007)

The Shift of the Ages (2007)

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)

Thor (2009)

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10,000 BC (2008)

The Golden Compass (2007)

The Last Legion (2007)

Pathfinder (2007)

Stardust (2007)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

300 (2006)

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Apocalypto (2006)

Eragon (2006)

The Fountain (2006)

Robin Hood (2006) UK TV Series

The Covenant (2006)

The Wicker Man (2006)

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This interesting and fascinating look into the tribal life of our supposed ancestors in 10,000 BC (or should we say BCE to be more correct!) was enjoyable and something a bit different.

I went into the theatre with the impression that it would be similar to Clan of the Cave Bear and I was right. The film is set around a dying breed of hunter-gatherers who hunt Mammoths, as their world is turned upside down by a vicious tribe from the East on horseback (demons with four legs). It is essentially about how they survive this attack and goes on to tell how they decided to stand against the horse tribe and eventually how they move on from being hunter-gatherers to being an agricultural society.

Although at times the characters were a little too clean with perfect teeth (a common Hollywood problem) this film still managed to be entertain and give several incites into tribal nature and working, most fascinatingly the ‘Old Mother’ character, the Wise Woman of the tribe.

However, there are many historically incorrect items in this film, I am not going to name them here, but there are enough that you have too suspend your disbelief and just watch it for what it is, an enjoyable adventure with an interesting Pagan tribal slant.

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It has been awhile since I read all three of Phillip Pullmans books, so the finer details had vanished into the mists of my mind, in consequence I was able to enjoy this film in it’s entirety without thinking ‘oh, they missed that bit out’ or ‘that’s not how it happened in the book!’, which was a great relief.

This discreetly and yet not so discreet, Pagan film was a marvel to watch and take in, cinematically it was impressive and beautifully made.

I will not spoil the story for those of you who have yet to see it, but I will say it was an enjoyable time spent suspending my disbelief and being immersed in a wonderful world of demons (one’s soul creature), the marvels of the Golden Compass, the life of Lara and friends and, the fascinating cultures of each country they travelled too. Not to mention the Polar bears, the Gyptions and Dust!

A great family film to enjoy whilst cuddled up with them and hot chocolate on these cold nights! Enjoy!

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This is an unusual take on the last Roman Legion of the Roman Empire and the life of the boy Caesar Romulus Augustus, the film’s official description is: ‘As the Roman empire crumbles, young Romulus Augustus flees the city and embarks on a perilous voyage to Britain to track down a legion of supporters.’

Of course this takes us around the world collecting members of his personal guard and eventually finding The Last Legion in Britain.

Spoiler Warning! (Do NOT read any further if you wish to see this movie)

This film turned out to be the start of the Arthur story, a sort of prequel to the story everyone knows with even Merlin in attendance.

Where this story was leading was obvious very early on and the whole film was weak in storyline and execution in my opinion.

Definitely a film to rent on a rainy afternoon and to watch with the children, but not worth paying the admission price at theatres for.

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I became interested in this film for a couple of reasons, one that it involved seeing life inside First Nation villages as they were many, many years ago and secondly to see just how brutal the Vikings were when raiding new countries.

Obviously the creators of this movie used creative license to produce a dramatic tale but the basic information was interesting.

The Viking were very violent and even down right vicious in their goal of clearing the new land of ‘savages’ before settling and the native people were at a loss of how to deal with the Viking swords.

We watched the ‘full’ film, which was uncut and included all the violence. I like to do this as you understand better the tale the writer and director are trying to tell. 

One can always tell an enjoyable film as it is over too soon rather than dragging, this one for me was over too soon and I was left with a real understanding of the scourge that was the Viking Raiders.

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I have to say I enjoyed this film….once I got past the usual distorted representation of Witches (old, evil and bent on the destruction of something special and lovely, just to regain their beauty…yak!). I decided to let this thought go…. * sigh * ….. and I started to enjoy the story.

Neil Gaiman has weaved and wonderfully fantasy tale full of adventure, secrets, greed, power, love and romance. Yet behind this veneer of the usual suspects, lies some really interesting things. One of them was the moral of the tale and that is to not be what others want you to be but to have to courage to be who you really are, this is what we should all be taking to heart, no matter your path in life.

The other interesting theme through the film was the use of Pagan tools and ideas, indeed there was the ability to control such elements as lightening, fire and water. The Pagan tools used were the Runes (several times), Extispicium (divination by entrails) and the use of Poppets.

The most unexpected thing for me was the humour, this film had me laughing out loud in many places.

An enjoyable way to spend an evening, even if it made you long for a film with a non ‘Hollywood-esk Witch’.

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Having seen all the previous films and read all the books, I was looking forward to this one a lot and I have to say it did not disappoint.

Although directed and produced by different people from the others, the film was captivating and very enjoyable. The special effects really captured the feel of the book and although there were many details from book that they just could not fit in, I think they made an excellent job of it and judging by the amount of people who have been to see it world wide since it opened, I am not the only one to think so.

Although I will not go into the story much here I will say that I particularly enjoyed the references and the conversation about people having the capacity of light and dark within in them, the trick is how you use this within you and bring it forth into your everyday life that matters and whether or not you can balance it. This is a concept that most Pagans will understand and be glad that it was a prominent thread in the film teaching the younger folks that anger and darkness is necessary to be able to have happiness and light in your life. An excellent lesson for teenagers who often feel trapped in their feelings.

In my opinion this is an excellent film and one I totally recommend, even if you just go to suspend your disbelief and enjoy a few hours away from everyday life.

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This film will not be for everyone, those who do not like to see violence and blood spurts may not enjoy this movie. That being said, I did!

I really enjoyed the way they filmed this movie, it is quite unlike anything I have seen before and yet still very enjoyable. The effects were excellent and powerful, the scenery was awe inspiring and the battle scenes were repulsive and yet enjoyable… weird I know.

What we saw of the Spartans way of life was inspiring both in their battle mentality and their home life. Like any other civilization they had their detractors, whose goal it was to destroy them either through stupidity or greed.

What we saw of their Pagan traditions was most interesting and filmed extremely well in my opinion. The amazing scene with the Oracle is one not to be forgotten. Within the religious life of the Spartans they experience corruption and chaos just as many other belief systems have over the millennia of human experience.

I will not go into the plot, as I do not wish to spoil it for those that do not know the fate of the Spartan 300.

Once this film is out on DVD it will be a keeper for me!

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Pan’s Labyrinth is filmed in Spanish and subtitled into to English, as well as other languages.

It is a strange story which is split between the brutal and very violent times of the Spanish Civil War leading up to WWII and a fantasy world in an ancient labyrinth.

This film is NOT recommended for children nor for people who can’t stomach some graphic violence.

Throughout the movie I kept hoping that they would change back to the fantasy parts as there simply wasn’t enough of them. Although the story interlinked it did not seem to fit, quite.

The character of Pan was an interesting one and it is worth seeing this movie for him and the fantasy world.

I did feel it could have been better, been  I dunno...more?

If I were you then I would wait to watch it on DVD, when there is nothing else on.

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This is an unusual one for me as I do not usually watch subtitled films. I prefer English due to the fact that I like to see reactions to the dialogue being spoken rather than missing it, whilst I trying to read. Subtitled films also it irritate me, sometimes I can not read the words due to the background image obscuring the text. This being said there was not a huge amount of dialogue in Apocalypto, so I managed to enjoy the film.

I know there has been a lot of complaint about how violent this film is and to those critics I say this: since when did an indigenous people struggling for survival and warring with rival tribes, have to be peaceful? I think these critics lost the whole point of this movie!

I enjoyed this movie, really I did. I love to watch movies about indigenous peoples and this one was excellent in the portrayal of the struggled facing them. However, it must be remembered that we only have theories of why the Mayan civilization failed so completely, this film is one theory.

It was nice not to have any ‘well known’ actors in it, it would have distracted from the storyline, no matter how much they tried to get into the character.

This story is a compelling one full of friendship, love, hate, greed, using people for your own beliefs and purposes, terror, Pagan Gods and the struggle for freedom and life.

The acting was believable and at times it felt like I was actually in the Mayan city, now that sequence was worth the price of admission alone!

Well worth a trip to the cinema or to the DVD store when released, so check it out!

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For those of you who like to ‘suspend your disbelief’ and watch movies with similarities to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or Lord of the Rings then this movie is for you. You are not alone, there are millions of you out there and I count myself in this category.

Being the first part of the ‘Trilogy of Inheritance’ this story was a little drawn out but wonderfully shot in some bright and beautiful and dark and nasty places. Eragon, a reluctant hero, is well played by the new comer Ed Speleers and the with the help of the strong characters created by Jeremy Irons as Brom, John Malkovich as Galbatorix, Robert Carlyle as Durza and Sienna Guillory as Arya you feel the bewilderment and struggle of Eragon.

As for the dragon .. well, I will not spoil the story for you, but it is well worth seeing and hearing! I especially like the connections between Dragons and Dragon Riders.

The magic in this film was interesting to me, ever since (many years ago) I saw Dune where magic/power/energy was in a word, I have been intrigued by this concept and Eragon uses this type of magic often with surprising results. I especially liked how Brom (Jeremy Irons) explained this type of magic … so watch out for his description!

Oh yes, if you are like me and like to see huts adorned with drying herbs, candles and unusual ‘witchy’ items, watch out for Angela’s hut (the fortune teller).

I do feel that the film lacked the ‘umph’ of (for example) Lord of the Rings – Fellowship of the Ring movie, where almost all the audience were frustrated when the first part finished, there was not such as feeling left by this film. I do not know if the climax at the end was not long enough or if the story lacked something somewhere.

However, I understand the movie is drastically different from the book, I guess I had better go off and read it!

Let us see what the second part brings us….

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Something about this film caught me right from the very first trailer, I do not know what it was, maybe it was the mention of the Tree of Life, maybe no, but whatever the reason I was really looking forward to seeing it. I am not going to go into detail of the plot, as it will ruin it for those whom still wish to see it.

We all know from the trailer that this film is set in three different timelines: 1500, 2000, 2500 and as the film opens it starts to tell these three storylines, separately without linking and all you know that somewhere, somehow they will connect.

At this point I must say that if you require every detail explained from A to B you will be confused by this film, but if you are like me and can make that leap from A to B then what a powerful ride you are going to have. The person I went with could not make the leaps and so didn’t feel connected to the film as much as I did, I guess it is like those 3D images some folks can see the image some can’t, tis just how life is.

This film has an interesting view of how Christians and Pagans see the Tree of Life and the myths that have risen up around it. One of the main threads through the film is the tragedy of a man trying to save his wife from a death caused by cancer and, more importantly though, it is about the choices we make and the consequences that come from those choices.

As the closing credits came up there was an astonished and amazed silence from the audience for a good minute before the usual rustle of clothing and folks preparing to leave. In that minute my only word was ‘Wow!’. I, like the others, took that minute for the meaning and power of the ending to sink in.

This was one of the most interesting, thought provoking, deeply moving and astounding films I have ever seen, if you come away from the cinema without that feeling you simply didn’t get it!

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I have decided to review this series as the original Robin of Sherwood (1983-1985) was not only entertaining but had positive imagery and story lines pertaining to Herne the Hunter and of Robin Hood being Herne’s ‘son’.

Instead of continuing the story from the third series of Robin of Sherwood, Robin Hood starts again with the usual story of how he becomes an outlaw and how he meets his beloved Marion and men.

During the first episode the script was a little corny, the acting a tad rough but as the episodes continued things improved, but only slightly.

Swords really don’t make that zinging sound when drawn!

We have not heard any mention of Herne and I am now doubtful that we will, this series is just a standard retelling of the same old story but with huge PC overtones, political messages and a bloodless pacifist Robin. Yes, he ‘refuses to kill man nor beast’, interestingly though they were sat roasting rabbits!

If you think that is bad, then just wait till you see Marion doing Tai Chi and the miner’s strike!! Needless to say this was the final straw and I have stopped watching it.

This series is not particularly outstanding in any shape or form and in my opinion has little or no interest for the Pagan mind.

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Warning: For those readers who want to see the film, please read this article AFTERWARDS, as I will be discussing the plot and it may spoil your viewing.

I was prepared for the usual ‘Hollywood Witches’ type film with the lightening bursting out from some warlock’s fingertips and a rampaging coven of devil worshippers.

Well, I am very pleased to tell you that this film contained nothing of the sort!

It was a kind of male version of Charmed in the sense that the ‘power’ is inherited through the bloodline, in this case male, but that is about all it had in common with Charmed.

The opening explanation of the ‘Sons of Ipswich” coming from the five prominent witch families who made the ‘Covenant of Silence’ to protect themselves is understandable in the days of the Salem witch trials.

The whole moral of the story was that Magic is addictive in whatever form you ‘use’ it.  In this case, if you ‘used’ it shortened your life, now we are not talking fake grey hair and wrinkles but it accumulated over time to significantly reduce your body’s ability to withstand age. This being said the characters although having a feeling of invincibility were more concerned with being seduced by the ‘power’.

This film was definitely about free will, the choices everyone makes and the consequences of those choices.

When we did get down to fight scenes, there was no blood and gore (for a change) and it was interesting to see that they fought by pushing energy at the opponent. This energy was not shown in some hideous multi coloured flashy way, it was shown in a kind of see through water ripple effect.

Not once in the entire movie was ‘Satan’ or the ‘Devil’ associated with Witchcraft, nor was the use of ‘Warlock’ or ‘Male Witch’ used. They actually used the generic term of Witch. This was refreshing and apart from, the black eyes when a witch used his ‘power’, this film did not fall into the gapping chasm of ignorance usually shown by ‘Hollywood.’

Although they did move a few objects and used spells, it wasn’t in a over the top way, in fact the spells were far from being this mini drama of imaged witchcraft. They were whispered or not even said aloud.

Although I would have liked to see more modern references to Paganism, I have to say I enjoyed this film more than I thought I would, even if it’s still a teen movie! 

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Warning: For those readers who want to see the film, please read this article AFTERWARDS, as I will be discussing the plot and it may spoil your viewing.

I have been looking forward to this film for a while now, in fact whilst sat in the cinema along with my hubby, I actually got butterflies as the adverts came to a close and the curtains were pulled back for the wide screen format. I knew going into this movie that it would be different to the original, including a new start but I was prepared to be open-minded.

When it eventually returned to the original storyline and we arrived on the island, the scenery was very beautiful with wonderfully lush woods and pathways (sadly minus the stone circles and naked dancers) although one could certainly imagine a self-sustainable community living there. The Inn, although it was not named  ‘The Green Man’, was an incredibly atmospheric log cabin, serving mead (of course!), these points alone would probably appeal to Pagans worldwide.

I can even go with the writers when they brought in the idea of the bees instead of apples, bees have their rightful place in the worship of the Goddess, and beekeepers have been known as “Melissa’s” throughout history. In the hype written about this film ‘killer bees’ were mentioned more than once. This was not the case, the bees were only ‘killer’ to Nicholas Cage’s character as he had a life threatening allergy to them.

However, (and to me this is a big however) the film lacked that wonderful carefree and sexy atmosphere of the original movie, there was no rowdy and lewd sexy songs nor even a hint of the free spirit of Pagan sexuality that exists when one lives without the shame and guilt practiced in other religious. A fact that was shown very clearly in the original film.

I kept noticing throughout the film the lack of balance of male and female and it started to grate on me as the film progressed, until the explanation of their “beliefs” by “Sister Summersisle”. This “belief” turned out to be very extreme version of Dianic worship and a one sided view of Goddess religions and men in general. Men were reduced to being only good for reproduction and menial tasks. This gave, in my opinion, the viewer a very unbalanced glimpse at a single Goddess belief out of many, rather an unfortunate choice to showcase Paganism to the general public.

Some points were true to the original story, such as the missing photograph and the Beltane dance to the cliff (although the name Beltane was never mentioned, neither was the recurring theme of the Hare) however every main Pagan character was played by a woman in a very manipulative way and the script frequently hinted to a dark lurking cult underneath the smiling veneer.

I am pleased the end remained the same, if just for a tribute to the original and not for the lack of a positive Pagan message, but somehow even that was lacking. The ending of the original was so symbolic as the fire burned to the setting Sun it made this burning seem not so dramatic… but then what happened? Well to my surprise this wasn’t actually the end at all! Nope, the filmmakers had decided to add on a few more minutes of story line to hook you in one last time… sadly once it began the content was as predictable as any other ‘teenage’ horror movie.

Finally, I came away with a deflated feeling due to the writers missing the most important and some would say the essential element of the original – the Pagan community feel of Summer Isle. Many Pagans even today enjoy it for the sense of living freely within our beliefs and in an environment of understanding and acceptance.

Needless to say I will not be adding this film to my growing library of Pagan films, I will be sticking with the original version and enjoying every minute of it!

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